Language Attitudes and Ideology Thursday, April 16th 2015

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Reading Read the excerpt from Authority in Language by Lesley Milroy.

History of the “Standard” Before William Caxton’s introduction of the printing press to Britain in the late 1400s, the many widely differing versions of English spoken in the British Isles were not seen as marked by different levels of prestige, and none were seen as more ‘correct’ or ‘standard’ than any other. Due to really quite accidental sociohistorical factors, the earliest printers selected the variable English spoken between London, Oxford, and Cambridge to fix into a more or less stable and enduring form. It thus gained a social status that distinguished it from other unprinted or under-printed dialects. With the rise of the concept of the nation state during the Renaissance period, this newly prestigious form of English began to be viewed as the ‘National Language’ and so was subject to further codification (e.g. in dictionaries), mythologization (e.g. regarding its purity and logic), and, in the 18 th century, a doctrine of correctness.

Discussion ●Apart from accidental historical factors, how does the idea of “standard English” survive in the US today? o Do you see people supporting “standard English” in your everyday life? o What are some ways this takes place in smaller communities of practice? -Is there a “standard theater language” or a “standard lacrosse language”? Journal -Write down some of your examples.

Journal: Quiz Which of the following are examples of language ideology: a.English does not have the ll that Spanish has. b.People say that using words such as parquear and lonche mean you speak bad Spanish. c.Speakers of British English say flat while speakers of American English say apartment. d.It is considered wrong to use a double negative such as I don’t have no pencils. Give two reasons that the the language usually called “Standard English” has the form we see today.